8 Reasons Digimon Was A Better Show Than Pokemon

3. It Had A More Serious And Consistent Tone

Everything about 'Pokemon' is meant to be light-hearted and fun; Team Rocket's botched plans, Brock's lusting after every woman, Misty's anger at Ash for wrecking her bicycle, etc. Now, obviously, with it being a kid's show, that's perfectly normal and acceptable. However, after over 17 years of telling the same basic story over and over again, it can also get pretty tedious, especially after numerous repetitions taking place within the same episode, which is why most fans grow out of it at some point. Don't get me wrong, having a light-hearted show is fine. But it also limits the kind of stories you can tell and lessens the impact of the more emotional beats that you may want to include in later stories. For example, one of the best episodes of 'Pokemon' is "Snow Way Out", where Ash gets stuck in a cave in the freezing cold and all of his Pokemon come out of their Pokeballs to wrap themselves around him in order to give him warmth. It's a beautiful moment that has stuck with me for almost two decades now. But its impact is significantly lessened by the cheesy denouement that followed soon afterwards. Rather than build on the bond being formed between Ash and his Pokemon, the episode ends on Team Rocket hamming it up once again. It's just completely unnecessary. Plus, let's be honest, how seriously can you take Ash's various predicaments in any given episode when you know that each one ends with a "Poke-Rap"? 'Digimon', on the other hand, lets things play out naturally. They didn't rapidly switch gears from solemn to silly just to provide a cheerful conclusion to a story within a singular episode. And that more consistent tone made the show all the better for it.